The Final Return to Oz: My Home
by DragonSlayer6
Summary: Many years after Dorothy Gale’s life-changing adventure to the magical land of Oz, she lies in a bed in New York City, where life has been kind to her. But never as kind as her dear friends of Oz. As her time on earth slowly but surely comes to an end, sh


Title: The Final Return to Oz: My Home  
Author: DragonSlayer6  
Rating: G

Summary: Many years after Dorothy Gale's life-changing adventure to the magical land of Oz, she lies in a bed in New York City, where life has been kind to her. But never as kind as her dear friends of Oz. As her time on earth slowly but surely comes to an end, she recollects her time in Oz, her friends, and how the experience changed her life.

As I lie tucked under my covers, obscured from the chill of the winter air that always finds its way through the smallest of cracks throughout the house, only to drift into the spacious rooms, I look at the four walls of my bedroom. On each wall there is something that reminds me of home, but also reminds me of my early life in Kansas. Pictures of friends and family litter the walls, both here in New York City and back in Kansas, where part of me was left behind after college. Flyers – advertisements of the profession that made me into a star reminds me of how good life has been, as do the portraits of a family that my late husband and I raised. Two girls and a little boy, who are now adults with their own families.

As my mind wanders from these thoughts, my eyes are attracted to the framed picture at my bedside. It's a picture of me and my Aunt Em, sitting on the porch back in Kansas. Both of our legs are crossed and a perky and proud looking Toto sits in the wicker basket that lays in my lap. There's a sweet, perky smile of a young girl planted upon my features, but the smile that forever resides on my Aunt Em's face is one that is forced. It disturbs me that after all of these years of gazing at this picture, yearning to return home, to the place that introduced me to the land of Oz, that I finally realize this. Troubled, I look away and my thoughts drift back to Oz.

Ah! That magical land filled with wonder and adventure. In all of my life, I've never been able to find one place that could rival the beauty of the land and its rich culture, filled with things that only a child could imagine (and an adult could be skeptical about.) I've remained a child ever since I returned from Oz, a child unable to escape the young woman that I was becoming. Though I have become old and quite haggard, my mind still remains that of a child's. Though I've been married and have children (and grandchildren), I'm still a child. I never have and – sadly – never will grow up. My childhood and childish thoughts will always remain as close to me as have my thoughts of the Tinman, the Scarecrow, and the Lion.

My eyes begin to lightly close as I finally begin to fall into a peaceful, eternal sleep, but for some reason unbeknownst to me just yet, I see a light that commands my full attention, that tells me to wake up and listen. I do as told and sit up in my bed, only to face the friends I had made so long ago in that wonderful, colorful world that eludes me in life, but never in my dreams. A smile lights my face brighter than the sun would on a luscious spring day, filled with the sweet scent of wildflowers filtering the polluted air. I can't help but glance in the mirror, only to see something I thought I'd never see again…

I was young! I touched my face to make sure I wasn't dreaming, but it was true. There were no more wrinkles or chicken tracks at the corner of my once dull-brown eyes. My eyes! Until now, as I said, my eyes had become a dull-brown, worn from the stress of life that was once so sweet. My cheeks, they were just the way I remembered them from my childhood, slightly chubby and rosy, just like my mother. My hair was also a stunning auburn again, not grey as it had become as I got older. My sparkling eyes filled with tears as I looked back to my friends. They smiled right back at me, each of them crossing the floor to come sit on my bedside.

Then suddenly, my bedroom wasn't my bedroom anymore. It was Oz, but from the corner of my eye, I could see the house and the farm that I grew up on. The farm that my mother had died in, and the one that my Aunt Em and Uncle Henry raised me in. Everything was beautiful and was exactly as I remembered it, down to the last details of the clothes that my friends wore, and the chipped paint of the old wood upon the house.

"Is this real?" I finally manage to choke out with some difficulty. "Am I really home, in Oz, with all of you here with me?"

The Tinman takes a step closer to me, towering over me as he bushes a stray lock of hair behind my ear. He then finally smiles down at me, taking my small hand into one of his own. "Yes, Dorothy. You're finally here with all of us. We've been waiting for such a long time… We never thought you'd come back."

As he had spoke, he had sounded so sad, and the rest had nodded to agree with what he was saying. They all looked so sad as well. It made me want to cry, and that was exactly what I did. I cried. I cried for real, for the first time in many years. The Lion walked up to me with a small smile on his face, a handkerchief in his paw. He then put his other paw around me and drew me close, wiping the tears that were streaking down my cheek. "Don't cry, Dorothy. It's not your fault. You wanted to go home, and we wanted you to go home too!"

The Scarecrow then bounded up to ,e, with a smile on his face as well. He knew just the thing to cheer me up. A fond memory that would make me laugh like I used to seemed just what the doctor had ordered. He held the object which would make me laugh behind his back as he came to a somewhat clumsy stop in front of me that emitted a giggle from my body. His plan was already working!

"Dorothy, I believe you left this behind as we were running," he said as he revealed the item that revolved around his plan. It was a single red apple that he said might have little green worms, as he assumed I was afraid of when he fought the tree that had frightened me, trying to get some apples. That day, he had displayed his bravery and loyalty to me and he never even knew it, and it wasn't until after I had recovered from my nasty injury that I had realized it.

I began to laugh as he plopped the apple into my hand. At the moment, my heart was three times the size it was when I had left Oz. It felt as if it was going to explode from all the joy that was building inside of it. Curiously, I bit into the apple, not thinking about the little green worms, or the tree that was furious with me for picking one off in the first place. It was the most delicious apple I had ever tasted, but what was I supposed to expect from such a wonderful world, if not premium apples?

"You'll have to remind me to thank him one day," I replied to him as I bit into it again. The others laughed as I chewed on the piece that was in my mouth, then I heard a voice I didn't think I'd hear for quite a while.

"Why don't you tell me in person? I worked really hard to grow those apples before you came and picked them off, but if it brings a smile to your face like the one you have now, I suppose it was worth it," said the tree that I thought was old and sour, much like Ms. Gulch. I had never expected to hear those words come from his mouth. After all these years, I thought that he would still be mad at me for doing such a thing. I suppose this astute judgment comes from my inability to not hold grudges, though I've never held many.

I laughed and so did everyone else. We were having a jolly good time. The I realized how long I had been standing there without even thinking of check the house for my family. As I dropped my things, I ran toward the house where Toto sat on the porch, waiting for me. As I pulled open the gate to the white picket fence, Toto pranced up to me with wild abandon. Jumping up and down and clawing at my blue checkered dress, waiting for me to pick him up and hold him.

I did just that and gulped as I entered the house to find it filled with family and the farm hands that Aunt Em had hired. They were all just as I remembered them. As I began to catch up on time that had been lost, I introduced my family and close friends, to the close friends that had introduced me to this wonderful place and everything in it.


End file.
